METALS-Copper comes under pressure from selling by funds

SYDNEY, Sept 13 (Reuters) - Copper prices lost more ground on Wednesday after an early rally faded under pressure from commodity funds selling out of positions.

Commodity traders said the presence of funds offloading copper overnight re-emerged late in the Asian day.

Commodity funds had been active on Tuesday cutting positions on bets that prices had peaked, at least in the short term, after LME warehouse stocks climbed by more than 10,000 tonnes.

Also, London metals remained “overly exposed” to a stronger U.S. dollar, which was enticing holders of other currencies to sell out of positions, said a Perth-based trader. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

* LONDON COPPER: Three-month copper on the London Metal Exchange had slipped 0.5 percent to $6,629 a tonne by 0700 GMT, adding to a 1.2-percent loss racked up the previous session.

* SHANGHAI COPPER: The most-traded copper contract on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell 1.3 percent to close at 51,000 yuan ($7,812.62) a tonne.

* LEAD RISES: ShFE lead continued to recover from Monday’s one-month low, climbing more than 3 percent and leading the market’s gainers on supply concerns in China.

“Lead’s been a bit oversold in some investors’ eyes given the fundamental outlook looks positive, and that’s brought out some speculative (buying) interest,” the Perth trader said.

This week Chinese lead producer Haicheng Chengxin Nonferrous Metal Co suspended output after an equipment failure at its 100,000 tonne-per-year smelter in the northeastern Liaoning province.

* TIN FIND: China’s Hunan province said on Tuesday it had confirmed the presence of almost 90,000 tonnes of tin ore and over 12.9 million tonnes of fluorite in a region that is part of a prolific mining belt in the south of the country.

* LME ALUMINIUM: Three-month aluminium on the LME was off a touch at $2,132.50 a tonne, barely holding on to gains from the previous session. ShFE Aluminium closed down 0.09 percent.

* ZINC, NICKEL: ShFE Zinc ended down 0.70 percent, while ShFE nickel finished up 0.51 percent. Nickel, used in steelmaking, was benefiting from a second straight day of firmer Chinese steel prices.